MUMBAI, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Shares of India's Polaris
Financial Technology Ltd slumped on Wednesday after
the country's market regulator accused the software services
firm's chief executive of insider trading and barred him from
participating in the securities markets for two years.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) said late
on Tuesday it has barred Polaris CEO Arun Jain from buying,
selling or dealing in securities either directly or indirectly.

Jain denied the accusation of insider trading when contacted
by Reuters and said he would appeal against the regulator's
order with the Securities Tribunal.

In its report, SEBI accused Polaris, formerly called Polaris
Software Lab Ltd, of "deliberately" withholding in September
2000 a price-sensitive decision to call off a planned
acquisition of U.S. software solutions and services provider
Data Inc.

SEBI further accused Jain of selling shares in Polaris
through a separate company he controlled after the decision had
been made but before the announcement was disclosed to the
exchanges.

Polaris shares were down 7.1 percent as of 0446 GMT after
earlier falling as much 8.6 percent. The broader market
was down 0.46 percent.
(Reporting by Rafael Nam and Harichandan Arakali; Editing by
Muralikumar Anantharaman)